Meet The Students of Cohort 1

Deera is a QMUL graduate in Material Science and Aerospace Engineering, specialising in propulsion systems and additive manufacturing, with expertise in green monopropellant thrusters and CubeSat development. He completed a graduate role at Satellite Applications Catapult and served as Vice-Lead for UKSEDS Satellite Design Competition, mentoring students on 3U CubeSats.

Joe graduated from the University of Leeds with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering, having spent a lot of my time as part of LURA, the rocketry club there. He is now at the University of Sheffield, where he has been able to take my interests further with both Project Sunride and this PhD opportunity.

Raised in South London, George started his career as an apprentice service technician working with Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars after leaving school in 2005. After stints testing fuel injectors and as a teaching assistant in an SEN primary school, George became a musician, going full-time in 2012. Although his musical journey over the next decade was fulfilling, it was always accompanied by a deep-rooted fascination with space science and technology.

With a background in control system modelling, CFD, and mechanical design, Matthew has been deeply involved with a number of technical projects during his undergraduate studies - including high power rocketry & CanSat projects affiliated with the Mach-X competitions & NRC, as well as contributing towards STRATHcube, the University of Strathclyde's CubeSat project.

George obtained an MEng in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Sussex, where he gained experience in aerodynamics as a junior research associate and completed an Airbus DS Titan UAV project. He has always loved space and astronomy, and enjoys being hands-on, so he will be working on the SSC Jovian-1 CubeSat alongside my PhD on electrothermal thrusters for space transportation vehicles.

Kushal gained an interest in wind tunnel testing as a result of carrying out his undergraduate dissertation in grid fin aerodynamics, using Manchester’s High Super Sonic Tunnel, as part of his integrated master’s course in Aerospace Engineering at The University of Manchester.

During his undergraduate degree, he was an active member of the ManSEDS Society, taking part in the UK Race 2 Space competition, wherein, with a small team,  he developed and tested a hybrid rocket motor.

Jack is a Swansea University physics graduate with over eight years of defence industry experience in radio frequency simulation and experimentation. During his time in industry, he has collected a myriad of applied/programming skills which will be put to good use during this PhD.

Maleha previously worked at the UK Space Agency, where she played a key role in stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and advancing the UK's space sector on both national and international platforms. As part of the External Affairs team, she was able to engage stakeholders such as industry, NASA, the European Space Agency, UK Space Command, and other major space agencies, as well as working closely with UK Astronauts. She has also worked as a Lead Academic Tutor in Rockets in Saudi Arabia, designing and delivering her own bespoke course.

Rose graduated from the University of Waikato with a M.Sc. Hons in Chemistry Research. She has previously worked as the Propellant Chemist on Rocket Lab's Lunar Photon mission, and as an intern at NASA Ames. Her Ph.D. project, under the supervision of Dr. Charlie Ryan and Dr. Hanna Sykulska-Lawrence, investigates ‘green’ hypergolic propellants.

Maksymilian Augustyn is an aerospace propulsion engineer whose professional career aligns with a deep interest in Rotating Detonation Engines (RDEs). A Warsaw University of Technology graduate, he completed his bachelor’s and master’s theses on RDEs. For the past three years, he has worked as an R&D engineer at the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw, Poland's largest aerospace research and development centre. His work has focused on liquid-propellant rocket and ramjet RDEs, encompassing CFD analysis of detonative combustion, conjugate heat transfer and combustor aerodynamics, mechanical design, and conducting lab experiments.